Title text:
I wanted to make the world’s fastest yawl, so I made the aft sail bigger, but apparently that means it’s not a yawl anymore! It’s a real ketch-22.
Transcript:
Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com
Source: https://xkcd.com/3193/
There actually exist some boats that use kites exclusively for wind propulsion. This is used to save fuel, and most of the propulsion comes from motors. The kite is controlled by a computer.
That example might also count as a mastless rig from the comic.
Some people have also added kite-style sails to traditional sailboats, but I don’t know much about this.
Here’s one such kite on a catamaran: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKs_yZFRiKI
Kites are more complicated than spinnakers which are already “fishing junk out of the water with extra steps” complicated. It is promising for solar electric boats, both as backup power, and voyage power boost, but even if they are promised as autopiloted flight, there needs to be a lot of experience in how to use them and when to bring them down ahead of weather, and lulls are big problems. There are commercial ship models, but I’m unaware of success stories with customer satisfaction.